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Surrey's Latest Social Care Headlines

During the meeting Cllr Curran told Katy and staff from children’s centres from across the county that she was “on their side”. The councillor asked them to invite all county councillors to see the work they do in a bid to inform them they were not nurseries and playgroups but a service.

She said: “Some people see it as a day nursery and some think of it as a playgroup. They just don’t understand the value of what you are doing and it would be fantastic if you could spread the word.

“I’m on your side. I’m a mum myself. You never forget those early days. Every stage of childhood has its challenges. I remember the day my daughter was born and I was going home - it was the first time in my life I had ever held a baby. I had never held a baby before.”

Daphne Sohl, centre leader for Weybridge, said the centres were a place for parents and grandparents to meet health visitors, support workers and get parenting help.

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She said it was a big challenge in her area helping parents who had no networks or family living nearby.

In her written response to the petition, Cllr Curran said the aim of the children’s centre changes was to retain the core service and develop a borough/district wide response which would be less reliant on existing buildings and open up provision of support for families with children aged 0-19.

She said: “Whilst these changes may prove challenging, the wellbeing and resilience of Surrey families lies at the heart of the new proposals.

“Through re-shaping our children’s centre contracts we believe we can better meet the needs of children and families.”

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Latest Surrey County Council Headlines

Public consultation on the future of the children’s centres opens in September before Cabinet makes a decision in January 2019. Any changes will not be implemented until September 2019.

Cllr Chris Botten, leader of the Liberal Democrats and Opposition Forum at SCC, said after the meeting: "Residents are rightly concerned, in the absence of any further detail from the county council, that children's centres supporting some of the most vulnerable families in Surrey could be cut.

"On the back of recent heavy criticism from Ofsted, there is real alarm at how reducing front line services to children and families who desperately need help, could potentially make a bad situation even worse.

"Surrey County Council urgently needs to improve, in terms of the way it spends council tax payers' money and the quality of services that it provides.

"Liberal Democrats will be watching closely to see if the county council's plans for the 58 children's centres in Surrey really do protect front line services or whether these are damaging and short-sighted cuts in order to balance the books".